Three steel factories and two coal-fired power plants (PLTU) will be constructed in the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP), Central Sulawesi, by three foreign investors with total investment of Rp 17 trillion (US$1.22 billion).

Total investment in the industrial park currently stands at Rp 78 trillion.

PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) spokesman Dedy Kurniawan said in Palu recently that the construction of one carbon steel factory with a capacity of 3.5 million tons annually and two nickel pig iron (NPI) factories with capacities of 500,000 tons and 300,000 tons, respectively, were scheduled to be completed this year.

Meanwhile, two power plants with capacities of 350 x 1 megawatts and 65 x 2 megawatts would be used to support the operation of the three steel factories.

About 800 foreign workers will be employed to construct the factories and power plants, Dedy said.

“The presence of the foreign workers is only temporary. Soon after the infrastructure construction is completed, they will return to their home countries because their contracts will have expired,” he said, adding that about 3,000 foreign workers, 2,000 of whom were from China, had been stated in the foreign workers employment plan reported to the Manpower Ministry.

Eight factories currently operate in the industrial park, manufacturing nickel pig iron, stainless steel, hot rolled coil and cold rolled coil. Three PLTUs also support the operation of the factories. (bbn)